Head-To-Head Analysis: Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) vs. Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC)

Hanover Bancorp (NASDAQ:HNVR) and Commercial National Financial (OTCMKTS:CEFC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Hanover Bancorp has a beta of -0.23, meaning that its stock price is 123% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commercial National Financial has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Hanover Bancorp and Commercial National Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hanover Bancorp	0	0	1	0	3.00
Commercial National Financial	0	0	0	0	N/A

Hanover Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.06%. Given Hanover Bancorp’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Hanover Bancorp is more favorable than Commercial National Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

15.0% of Hanover Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 24.8% of Hanover Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of Commercial National Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Hanover Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Commercial National Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Hanover Bancorp pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commercial National Financial pays out 40.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Profitability

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Commercial National Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hanover Bancorp	8.70%	6.33%	0.52%
Commercial National Financial	20.10%	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hanover Bancorp and Commercial National Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hanover Bancorp	$62.58 million	2.28	$15.16 million	$1.65	12.12
Commercial National Financial	$27.39 million	1.35	$6.17 million	$1.38	6.78

Hanover Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Commercial National Financial. Commercial National Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hanover Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Hanover Bancorp beats Commercial National Financial on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hanover Bancorp

Hanover Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, provides personal and business lending and deposit services to businesses, municipalities, and individuals in the New York metro area. The company offers checking, credit cards, debit cards, money market, savings, government and municipal banking, and professional services, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also provides business loans, commercial real estate financing, small business administration, lending directory services, and residential mortgage. In addition, the company offers cash management, online and mobile banking, merchant services, and digital solutions. Its banking offices are located in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, New York Counties, New York, Monmouth County, Freehold, and New Jersey. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Mineola, New York.

About Commercial National Financial

Commercial National Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Commercial Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, agricultural businesses, commercial businesses, and light industries in Michigan. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and health savings accounts. It also offers personal loan products, such as automobile loans, recreational vehicle loans, personal lines of credit, and unsecured term loans, as well as home equity loans and mortgage loans; and business loans, including secured lines of credit, business equity line of credit, SBA loans, equipment loans, real estate loans, vehicle loans, term loans, USDA loan programs, and capital access loan programs. In addition, the company provides other services comprising business VISA check cards, debit and ATM cards, business statement savings, business certificates of deposit, merchant services, night depository, telephone banking, online banking, e-statements, direct deposit of payroll for employees, child support payments, collection of receivables, and remote deposit capture, as well as treasury services. It provides its services through offices located in Barry, Gratiot, Ingham, Kent, and Montcalm counties in Michigan. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Ithaca, Michigan.